Historic Call for Obama, Rouhani

The presidents of America and Iran spoke directly Friday for the first time since 1979, setting the stage for delicate negotiations that could reshape the two adversaries' relationship.

The 15-minute call between Barack Obama and Iran's Hasan Rouhani, which focused on Iran's disputed nuclear program, topped a week of dramatic twists and turns. It also highlighted how critical Washington and Tehran have become to each other's pressing geopolitical goals.

After speaking to the United Nations General Assembly and then meeting with other world leaders -- although not with U.S. President Barack Obama -- Iranian President Hasan Rouhani hailed his trip to New York a success.

WSJ's Colleen McCain Nelson explains why President Obama and Iran's President Rouhani didn't meet at the U.N., amid signs of a warming in U.S.-Iran relations and possible progress on ending Iran's nuclear-weapon program.

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President Barack Obama had a 15-minute telephone conversation Friday with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, the first direct communication since the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Getty Images

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Iranian President Hasan Rouhani
Associated Press

For Mr. Rouhani, the opening of discussions with the U.S. lays bare how badly Iran wants relief from American-led economic sanctions. For Mr. Obama, Iran sits at the confluence of thorny foreign-policy issues on which he has staked his final years in office, which also include Syria's civil war and the Israeli/Palestinian peace process.

"The very fact that this was the first communication between an American and Iranian president since 1979 underscores the deep mistrust between our countries, but it also indicates the prospect of moving beyond that difficult history," Mr. Obama told reporters at the White House shortly after the phone call Friday afternoon.

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The phone call, which the White House said Mr. Rouhani initiated, came just days after Mr. Rouhani declined Mr. Obama's invitation to meet in person while both were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. But it also followed a series of indications from the newly elected Iranian president that he wanted to alter his country's relationship with the U.S.

Mr. Obama said he and Mr. Rouhani directed their governments to work quickly to reach an agreement over Iran's nuclear program.

Mr. Rouhani on Friday said his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, will bring a specific plan to address the West's concerns that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons, which Iran denies.

In mid-October, Iran, the U.S. and other world powers will meet in Geneva to try to put in place a concrete diplomatic path to resolve the dispute within one year. Mr. Obama said Iran has the right to a peaceful nuclear-energy program.

He noted that both sides would have to overcome "significant concerns" to reach an agreement, including Israeli skepticism about Iran's sincerity.

A senior administration official said Mr. Obama opened the call by congratulating Mr. Rouhani on his election. The official said Iran's nuclear program dominated the call, and it ended with Mr. Rouhani saying goodbye in English and Mr. Obama saying goodbye in Farsi.

The U.S. outreach to Iran is fraught with risk and is unlikely to be smooth. In one indication, U.S. officials said Iran hacked unclassified Navy computers in recent weeks in an escalation of alleged Iranian cyberintrusions that target the U.S. military. Officials said the attacks were carried out by hackers working directly for Iran's government or by a group acting with the approval of Iranian leaders.

Mr. Obama is meeting Mr. Netanyahu on Monday in Washington. U.S. officials said Mr. Obama is expected to say that the U.S. will make decisions based on changes in Iran's actions, not rhetoric, and that the administration is pursuing a diplomatic track in parallel with the U.S. strategy of sanctions backed with a threat of force.

"Israel is interested in a diplomatic solution, like anyone else. But we don't want to cheat ourselves," said Israel's Minister of Intelligence and International Affairs, Yuval Steinitz, in an interview Thursday. "Some people are willing to be cheated."

The pace of U.S. outreach to Iran has unnerved many of Washington's closest Mideast allies beyond Israel, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They fear Washington's engagement could remove the financial squeeze on Tehran while letting it continue to develop its nuclear program.

Some nuclear experts who advised Mr. Obama said they have seen little evidence Mr. Rouhani is willing to drastically cut nuclear capabilities to seal a deal.

Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, didn't directly criticize the outreach but called for even stronger sanctions, saying: "We must increase the economic pressure until Iran stops its nuclear drive."

Mr. Obama outlined at the U.N. an agenda focused on curtailing Iran's nuclear program, dismantling Syria's chemical weapons and cinching an Arab-Israeli peace agreement. He will need support from Iran's president to achieve lasting success at any of those. Iran is the biggest backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has developed militant movements in Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories that could upend the Mideast peace process.

Mr. Rouhani campaigned for the presidency on a platform of revitalizing Iran's economy, in part by rolling back the sanctions. This week, he courted businessmen as well as diplomats. Inside Iran, his outreach to the West has been greeted largely with enthusiasm. Iranian newspapers, including conservative outlets, played up Mr. Rouhani's speeches and interviews in New York as a positive turning point. U.S. and Iranian officials now see a stepped-up series of engagements in the coming months, after more than three decades with virtually no diplomatic contact following the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Messrs. Rohani and Zarif repeatedly stated this week they are committed to a political solution in Syria, even as Tehran continues to finance and arm the Assad regime.

Mr. Obama's aides prepared for the General Assembly by laying fresh groundwork on the Mideast peace process and making overtures to Iran. White House officials began privately signaling a potential presidential-level meeting at least two weeks ago.

The White House offered a carefully framed message that the U.S. sought to engage Iran with "mutual respect," signaling it was taking Mr. Rouhani seriously.

A senior U.S. official said Mr. Rouhani's delegation communicated early Friday his desire to talk with Mr. Obama before leaving New York Friday evening. The official said the Iranians appeared encouraged to take this step following Secretary of State John Kerry's 30-minute meeting Thursday night with his Iranian counterpart, Mr. Zarif.

Senior U.S. officials said they were struck by the change of tone when Messrs. Kerry and Zarif met.

"I have gotten to know Iranians...and I can't say we had chatty conversations," said a senior U.S. official who met the Iranian delegation Thursday. "That has all changed."

Our so called President, who is surely a Marxist, will kiss the boots of the Iranians and Assad, but goes off and plays golf when asked to negotiate with Republicans. We have no leader, no President who wants to be President of all the people. Obama had rather negotiate with thugs who wish to kill us and destroy Israel than negotiate with Patriotic Americans. Our Marxist President may actually bankrupt America and destroy our Democracy!

Check out the Commander in Chief's phone, at his desk Wired, with a handset! Not good for the ears, boss. Haven't seen a corded connection in an executive office since the 1970's. Hope that our cruise missile electronics are more up to date.

Its a zero sum game. Do you trust Obama? Do you trust Rouhani? Who knows what was really said? To me, Rouhani shirking Obama this past week spoke more than any conversation they had over the phone. Obama has lost all respect in the international community and he knows it.

blah blah...and if instead of a phone call it had been a handshake you would've said they really should have made out instead. simply taking the opposite view on something is not valid, logical or reasoned argument. it isn't right, it isn't even wrong!!

1. Developing long range ballistic missiles.2. Working with the North Koreans to improve accuracy of those missiles.3. Enduring harsh sanctions to continue their nuclear program.4. Preventing UN inspectors from looking at their nuclear program.

All of those actions are directed toward producing a nuclear tipped ballistic missile. Any protestations to the contrary are simply to buy time. The Ayatollah Khamenei is still in charge and any conciliatory statements by Rouhani are simply a ploy.

If our president ignores the above facts, it will be to our extreme peril.

Remember al the awesome international respect we had under a president who attacked the sovereign nation of Iraq with no plausible justification ever being given? To say nothing of the US instituting a torture regime and concentration camps to lock up innocent people never charged with any crimes whatsoever!

If only Obama would lie us into war, put on a military costume, and prance around like Tinkerbell on an aircraft carrier saying "Mission Accomplished!!" as thousands of US troops are dying in vain and hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, children, and babies are being murder on our tax dollars.... That was respectable!

I will add that Two days before Rohani spoke at the UN and refused to shake Obama'hand Rohani took part in a military parade during which he was proudly introduce to this event with twelve "Sejil" ballistic missiles. They were installed on trucks on the front which stated: "ISRAEL MUST CEASE TO EXIST."

"If our president BHO ignores the above facts and accepts now phone call of this guy, it will be to our extreme peril."

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